ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602050094
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
As long long as Radford University's basketball players can remember this season's series with Liberty University, a very tall shadow will darken their thoughts.
Peter Aluma, the 6-foot-10 Nigerian center, didn't start Saturday night's game, but he sure did finish it, doing so at a dreadfully familiar place for Radford: the free-throw line.
Aluma sank a free throw with 10 seconds left to give the Flames a three-point lead and Radford never got off a countering 3-pointer. The Flames prevailed 53-50 to snap a four-game losing streak.
``This was big for us,'' Aluma said. ``On a scale of one to 10, this is a 10.''
Aluma buried seven of 10 free throws to improve his two-game total against Radford this year to 18-for-26. That wasn't all he did. Aluma also scored a game-high 21 points to go with a game-high rebounds, and a game-high seven blocked shots.
``It was Aluma who beat us,'' said Ron Bradley, Radford's coach.
The Highlanders (10-11 overall, 4-5 in the Big South Conference) blew a 10-point lead and lost for the fourth time in five games.
Anthony Walker continued to struggle, but never more painfully than with 11 seconds left, when he was fouled beyond the arc with the Highlanders down 52-49. An 83.6 free-throw shooter, Walker missed two of the three to set the stage for Aluma's clinching foul shot after he was fouled going for the rebound. Walker finished with four points, his lowest scoring total in 41 games. The team had its low scoring game for the year.
``It was that stretch in the second half when we didn't score against their zone'' that did it, Bradley said. ``When Anthony is struggling like he is, then we don't have a whole lot of options.''
Aluma did not start the game, the first time that happened this season. Aluma laughed and suggested the move served to motivate him, but wouldn't say anything else about it.
``It was an in-house matter that we had to address, and we addressed it and moved on,'' said Jeff Meyer, Liberty's coach.
The first 20 minutes were, without question, the best Radford ever has played here. The Highlanders slipped and slid through the snow into the Vines Center knowing no Radford team had won here in four previous visits.
All four of those defeats started with a perfectly dreadful first half, too. Radford has been a rather frail team emotionally this season, so it was imperative to start well.
Jump-started by 12 Liberty turnovers, many of which came with little prompting from Radford defenders, the Highlanders pulled away with a 14-6 charge in the last 8:12 before intermission. Jason Lansdown was responsible for six of the points including the Highlanders' last four of the half. Lansdown played all 20 minutes - the only player on either team to do so - and scored 14 points. Aluma countered for Liberty with eight points and four blocks.
Radford managed its 28-18 lead at the break with minimal contributions from Walker, who played just nine minutes and scored no points as a result of collecting an early three fouls.
Lansdown was stymied for much of the second half and managed only four more points the rest of the way. He played the entire 40 minutes.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB